Newborn babies are a lot of work. They want you up in the middle of the night. They want their diapers changed. They want you to hold them all the time. It is exhausting. If you have older children at home, it can be downright impossible to check off everything on your to-do list off in a day. Shoot, it could take an entire week. Self care? Don't even think about it.
A TikTok husband and dad, Phil Mackenzie, thought he was making a lovely tribute to his wife when he filmed her doing a workout shortly after having their fourth son. But boy oh boy, was he wrong. According to the comment section, he did almost everything he could to tear her down, and people weren't having it. But did he really deserve the public flogging?
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Phil walked in on his wife, Brodie, getting in some exercise.
He snuck up behind her and started recording without her knowledge. That in and of itself was enough to tick some people off, but the text on the screen really got him in trouble.
"Today, I walked in on my wife working out while our newborn napped," it reads.
Not terrible. But, oh, the next part …
"Our house was a disaster. Dishes needed to be cleaned. Laundry needed to be done," the caption continues. "And a million other things she felt she had to do. Yet, I could not be more proud. She instead decided to take just a little time to herself that she deserved 10 times over."
Why, Phil? Why?
It doesn't take a genius to figure out that a mother of four small boys, including a newborn, might need a bit of assistance around the house. TikTokers were a tad astonished that Phil was recording Brodie instead of taking care of those dishes.
"This happened to me, walked in on my wife when I came from work. I didn't record her, I went ahead and did the dishes, laundry, etc." someone wrote. That comment alone had more than 35,000 likes.
Another comment picked at Phil's perceived attitude. "this man is saying "it's alright, she'll do all the chores later," the person shared.
Well, maybe he thought the second part of the text was endearing.
"She instead decided to take just a little time to herself that she deserved 10 times over. Always remember that YOU DESERVE time to yourself. The mess and chores can always wait, but your mental health should never be sacrifice," his caption notes.
Eh, that is a bit better, but again, Phil, what are you waiting for? TikTokers want you to help handle that mess!
As one commenter wrote, "'I'm so proud of her for doing this for herself. she'll get to it later.' vibes. DUDE. WHILE SHES DOING THIS DO THE DISHES. LAUNDRY. ANYTHING."
"Telllll me this is satire lol is this not your house too?" another person wrote.
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Phil says that people took the video all wrong.
In an interview with Today, Phil and Brodie agreed that many people misinterpreted the video and insist that their marriage is equal.
"We try to show the real side of parenting in our videos," he added, suggesting he and Brodie are in this together.
Brodie got a kick out of some comments but felt slightly sorry for her husband. "Some of the comments were hilarious but I felt guilty because he didn't deserve the backlash," she said.
She explained that a messy house gives her anxiety, and Phil was saying how proud he was of her for letting it go so she could take care of herself.
The couple is really into fitness.
Phil and Brodie have a significant following of nearly 817,000. That's a lot of people who helped get the video to 5 million views. The couple are fitness enthusiasts who share plenty of content on health and wellness in addition to some of their personal life.
"It's not a one-way street — and I would never want it that way, otherwise there's resentment," Phil told Today. "We split the load, but it's always evolving."
But let's not forget, according to Brodie, she is breastfeeding and the primary caretaker for a newborn. Maybe take some sage advice from the comment section, Phil. As one person commented, "if you cleaned while she did this, both of yall could relax afterwards."
Truth.
